YOUNGER YEARS OF A PLANT. 173 



itself only to the unfortunate, and making its early pro- 

 tector, even after death, the pride of the forests in which 

 he lives no longer when it gives him new life by cover- 

 ing his lofty trunk and broad branches with festoons of 

 eternal verdure. 



Still, wherever roots may be lodged, in the dark, still 

 earth, or under the restless waves, in the damp air of the 

 tropics, or the bark of a foreign tree they labor without 

 ceasing, night and day, summer and winter. For the life 

 of plants, and the work of their roots, does not cease in 

 winter as is commonly believed, and deep-rooted trees, 

 especially, enjoy the benefit of the warmth which is laid 

 up during summer, in the crust of the earth, and that at 

 the very time when their branches groan under a load 

 of snow, or stand encased with ice and fantastic glittering 

 pendants. Far under ground the roots continue to work 

 indefatigably, until the bright sunshine returns once more, 

 and they feel that the fruit of their industry can again 

 safely ascend through the dark, gloomy passages of the 

 tree, to pass at last into the merry green leaves, and there 

 to mingle with the balmy air of spring. For they are 

 a hardy class of laborers, these roots, and neither cold 

 nor ill treatment checks their activity. It is well known, 

 that the common maple tree may be completely inverted ; 

 its branches being buried under ground and its roots 

 spread into the air, without being destroyed. The finest 

 orange trees in Europe, in the superb collection at Dres- 

 den, were brought as ballast, in the shape of mere blocks 

 of timber, without roots or branches, in the hold of a 

 German vessel, and found their way to Saxony. Some 



